Prim's Experiences in the 74th Annual Hunger Games
by MsMollyn333
Summary: What if Katniss never volunteered for Prim? What if she forced Peeta to keep her alive? this is that story
1. chapter 1

Prim's Experience in The 74th Hunger Games

Katniss' POV

Standing, thats all we can do. Stand in wait as a name is drawn. I lock eyes with Prim, " I love you Katniss", she mouths to me. " I love you too", I mouth back and we both clutch our mockingjay pins in our fists as the name is called.

"Primrose Everdeen!" Effie Trinket trills. I'm to in shock to speak or even move. Prim starts to scream.

"Katniss! Katniss!", I stand motionless and speechless. The boy's name is drawn too quickly.

"Peeta Mellark!", Effie exclaims. The boy with the bread, that's all I can think of. "Our two tributes from District Twelve!", I hear ringing through the speakers throughout the district square. I finally snap back into it, but it's too late.

I start screaming, "I volunteer, I volunteer as tribute!"

"I'm sorry miss, but you should have spoken up sooner", Effie replies.

"Please! Please! I volunteer!", I break out into tears as I crumple to the ground. It's too late, Prim's going into the arena no matter what I do. Everyone is staring at me. I'm still on the ground, yelling at myself, "It's all your fault! You were supposed to protect her! And now she's going to die all because you couldn't get over the boy with the bread!"

My mother runs to me and says we need to go say goodbye. At first I refuse to believe all of this is true, but I finally accept it, knowing this is the last time I will ever see my little duck.


	2. Chapter 2

Prim's POV

I stand motionless in the justice building, staring at the door, waiting for my family to burst through. They finally arrive, Katniss, with her eyes all puffy and red. My mother, her face filled with sorrow and grief. I tell myself to be strong, but I give in too quickly. Sobs leave my mouth and tears start flowing from my eyes, streaking my face. Running to my sister, I throw myself into her arms. She lifts me up, holding me as if I were still a toddler. I gently rest my face on her shoulder while she runs her fingers through my blond hair. By the time the peacekeepers come to escort them away, Katniss' dress is soaked with my tears. She is reluctant to let me go, but the peacekeepers force us apart. I quickly say goodbye to my mother and put all my emotions and love into our hug. Once they leave, I'm left all alone.

Katniss' POV

My mother and I are pushed out of the room containing a very scared Prim. I tell my mother to wait a moment, as I walk swiftly down the hall to Peeta Mellarks' room. I have only really interacted with him once and I barely did anything. It was after my father had died and we were starving, it was a cold rainy night, and I was looking through the trash bin of the bakery when a woman came out and started screaming at me. I hid by a tree as I heard loud yelling coming from inside. Then a boy that i've seen in school a few times, came out with two burnt loaves of bread and a huge red mark across his cheek. I was thinking of how the woman must of hit him when suddenly he tossed me the loaves and ran back inside. I quickly scooped them up and sprinted home. That night my family went to bed with full bellies. After that incident I've caught him staring at me several times, and the way he stares tells me he is in love with me. I'm hoping to use this to my advantage. I wait patiently outside his door until his father exits. At this time, I push through the large wooden door into a room identical to Prim's. Pure shock registers on Peeta's face, like I'm the last person he expects to see. Before he can begin to talk I start giving instructions in a very forceful tone, making seem as if I'm yelling.

"You keep her alive, hear that Mellark! As long as you live she lives, and if you don't use all your power to save her and keep her safe, let's just there could be some serious consequences. OK? Got that!". His expression has turned from shocked to terrified. That's when I do something that surprises both myself and Peeta. I lean in and force my lips onto his. Even though he must be horrified about going into the games, his lips manage to be warm and welcoming pressed up against mine. After a few moments I recoil.

"Protect her for me. Please?", I whisper to him before leaving the room. I don't even wait for confirmation, I know he will. I rush out of the justice building, passing by Gale. I know that he knows exactly where I'm going, and he will shortly follow, into the woods.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Thanks for the support I have gotten so far. Just to warn you, even though I love Peeta more than Gale, the romance in this story will be between Katniss and Gale. I'm sorry if this upsets you. **

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own the hunger games. That right belongs to Suzanne Collins.**

**Prim's POV**

After a while, I am escorted to a room larger than the previous one, where I find Peeta Mellark to be sitting. I don't know much about him, he's in Katniss' year and is the baker's son. I quietly sit down and patiently wait for further instructions. Suddenly, Haymitch Abernathy, the lone living victor of District Twelve, bursts through the door. Complete terror overtakes me and I hide behind the sofa. I peek out from behind the sofa, Haymitch is gone.

"Boo!", he yells from behind me.

I whip my head around and scream, I speedily jump up and sprint to the other side of the couch. I cower there for a few moments before realizing I'm safe and return to my seat.

"So we got a scaredy cat and a baker's boy." Haymitch says in a drunken haze.

"Don't treat Prim like that!", exclaims Peeta before punching Haymitch square in the jaw.

"What was that for!", He yells.

"I promised to protect Prim...", Peeta starts to explain before trailing off.

"That will do you great in the games! Why you little!", Haymitch lunges at Peeta, but before he can reach him I roundhouse kick him square in the chest. Probably would've been in the head if I wasn't so short. This thought makes me giggle a little, and when I see the looks of disbelief on Haymitch and Peeta's faces, I can do nothing but burst out laughing. Man does it feel good to laugh again, probably won't happen again in my lifetime, so I savor the moment.

**Katniss' POV**

I sit in the small nook between the rocks waiting for Gale to appear. Without as much as the sound of even a breath to warn me he is there, standing with his arms open. I hesitate slightly before flinging myself into them. He notices my hesitation and gives me a questioning look. I just shrug it off and try to enjoy him being so caring and knowing how I desperately need comfort. But he is curious to know why I debated hugging him.

"I kissed Peeta", I mumble, knowing he won't be able to hear me.

"What?", Gale asks "I can't hear you"

"I kissed Peeta", I say, only slightly louder than before.

"I still can't hear you", Gale says melodiously.

"I KISSED PEETA MELLARK! Happy?", I scream at him.

"Oh", Gale says a little timidly.

"Ya oh, it surprised even me. I did it to help Prim. I know Peeta loves me and I used it against him. He might die for what I'm making him do!", tears start swelling in my eyes.

"Katniss...", Gale starts, but his voice trails off.

"Stop! Don't even try to tell me it's OK! Don't try to tell me what I did wasn't wrong, I even threatened him! I feel terrible...", before I can stop myself, I fall to the ground and start balling my eyes out with my head in my hands. Gale crouches down beside me and gives me a single soft kiss on my cheek. I look up into his seam gray eyes. He starts to kiss away each and every tear, one by one, disappearing at the touch of his lips.

"I need you, stay with me?", I whisper in his ear.

"Always", he says, right as he plants one last kiss on my lips.

**Hope you guys liked it. I'm sorry if your upset about how I took the "always" thing form Peeta and Katniss, but I thought it fit perfectly. Please review and give me feed back! I hope to update daily, but I do have school =( . Remember review! Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Chapter 4 YAY! Thank you so much for all the support and feedback. I was telling my friends that I'm writing this story and about how you guys reviewed and one of them said "wait, they actually liked it?". Great friends I have right? Well, hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**Prim's POV**

I got to ride in a car! A real fancy shmancy car, it was awesome! I know it really isn't that exciting, but when you have only ever walked anywhere, it's pretty cool. We don't talk much during the ride, I think there is still some tension between Peeta and Haymitch. We arrive at the train station and immediately 10 cameras are trained on my face, recording every single movement I make. I start smiling and try to mask my fear and show how excited I am to go to the Capitol. That quickly fades when I start wishing the people of the capitol didn't enjoy watching kids fight to the death so much. Thinking this brings tears to my eyes and I stop dead in my tracks, hoping I don't faint.

"Are you OK?", Peeta asks, grabbing my shoulder to steady me. Staring into his eyes gives me a chance to realize we have the same blue eyes and blond hair. This only makes me think of my mother, her and I are such outcasts with our looks living in the Seam. I mean she was a merchant's daughter so it makes sense we don't have the gray eyes, black hair, and more olive colored skin that people of the Seam have. It makes me feel good to be with someone I fit in with.

"Ya, thanks", I finally reply after a few moments. I keep walking, still deep in thought. My mind wanders back to my heartfelt goodbyes. Rory, one of Gale's younger brothers, who is about my age, came to say goodbye to me. We have kinda been dating, I guess. So when he was finished talking he kissed me, for the first time ever. Knowing I will never be able to have a life with him, let alone see him again, brings a whole new batch of tears streaking down my face. I start to breakdown and Peeta has to practically carry me the rest of the way to the train. I don't care if all the crying made me look weak, it helps me deal with my emotions. Man, I must sound really pathetic right now.

The train is absolutely amazing. Peeta, Haymitch, Effie, and I sit in a small compartment to watch the recaps of the reapings. The moment they start showing the District One tributes being called I tense up and get scared. I curl myself up in the corner of the sofa looking absolutely distraught with terror, when unexpectedly I feel a pair of warm arms wrap around me. At first I flinch but then look up and see Peeta smiling down at me, I relax a little. Since I don't have any older brothers and my dad died when I was younger it feels good to have a pair of strong arms keeping me safe again. I snuggle into them, feeling like a little kid again. I quietly stare at the television, watching district by district, kid after kid being drawn to be sent to the arena. I'm about to doze off when the girl from District Eleven gets called. She's a twelve-year-old like me and besides having dark skin and hair she reminds me of myself. Eventually, we reach the District Twelve reaping. Me, screaming my head off when I'm called. Katniss frozen in place, until she crumples to the ground and starts yelling at herself like she belongs in an asylum. After this Peeta carries me as if I were a baby, back to my room, tucks me in, whispers goodnight, and kisses my forehead. All throughout the day I have felt like such a child, vulnerable and weak. I suddenly notice I'm still clutching my mockingjay pin in my fist. I slowly remove it from my hand realizing it has pierced deep into my palm. I'm so tired the pain barely even phases me. I simply grab a tissue from nightstand and wrap my hand in it. 'I will fix it in the morning' I tell myself as I drift off to sleep with the pin now secured on my pjs. But waiting till morning might not have been the best idea. As I wake up and start unwrapping my hand, I see it has become infected and quite inflamed. So maybe District Twelve isn't the cleanest place in the world (especially the Seam), but I never thought something like this would happen. I start panicking and scurry around my room, trying to figure out what to do.

"Time to get up, up, up.", Effie trills. "It's going to be a big, big, day.", I go to the bathroom and quickly wash up, being very cautious of my hand. Once I'm ready, I discover a first aid kit and wrap my hand up, hoping no one will notice at breakfast. But of course the odds aren't in my favor, so the minute I walk in Peeta sees it and starts flipping out.

"Prim! What happened? Are you OK?", Peeta screams, so practically the whole train can hear.

"Would you quiet down!", Haymitch exclaims, obviously hungover. "Some of us are still trying to wake up!". Well at least Haymitch didn't seemed too worried.

"How did this happen?", Peeta asks frantically. I explain the story about the pin and by the end he is almost in tears.

"I'm fine, really. It's not that bad, it's just a little cut.", I say calmly, trying not to get Peeta anymore worked up.

"No, it's not! You have blood poisoning!", he yells, pushing up my sleeve to reveal red streaks crawling all the way up my arm. How could I have missed it? We have had people come to the house with blood poisoning, they always die. You need special, very expensive medicine from the Capitol to cure it. I'm terrified now. I'm in danger of dying and the games haven't even begun.

**Hope you guys liked it! Scary isn't it? What will happen to Prim? Well I'm sorry to say you will have to wait because tomorrow is my birthday party! I will try to update saturday but no promises, and sunday is my actual birthday, so the earliest I can absolutely guarantee an update is Mon. Starting this weekend is VACATION! So I hope to update everyday, maybe even more! Please review and tell me what you think! Thanks! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! I am so so so so so so soooooo sorry for not updating for like a week. I was actually really busy last week (surprise, surprise) even though it was vacation and every time I would sit down to write I would not be focused or get distracted or get writer's block. So I really hope you guys like this chapter. I will try updating roughly every other day if I can, cause it is close to the end of the school year and I have a lot of work to do. Still so sorry and hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games, only Suzanne Collins does. :)**

**Prim's POV**

I totally space out, refusing to believe what I just discovered to be true. "Prim? Prim? Can you hear me?", Peeta asks in a gentle tone. I finally accept the situation, my knees buckle and my face crashes into the carpet on the floor of the train. Tears stream down my face as thoughts of certain death flood my mind. It seems like I can almost feel the poison coursing through my veins, I get a sudden shiver down my back. Screams exit my mouth, beyond my control.

"I'm gonna die, I'm really gonna die, and there is nothing I can do!", my voice is now trembling. I ball up and start violently shaking, that's when Effie decides to enter.

"Primrose Everdeen! What are you doing?", she says in a voicing hauntingly similar to the day of the reaping. This just causes me to become more unstable and soon enough I'm shaking, shivering, and rocking back and forth, envisioning my true and awful fate.

"Effie! Your not helping!", Peeta yells at her.

"Well, she is using absolutely no manners. This is not the way anyone should act when a person enters the room.", Effie replies.

"What do you expect from her? She has blood poisoning!", Peeta shrieks while lightly rubbing my back, trying to calm me down.

"How was I supposed to know?", shrills Effie, in that Capitol accent of hers.

"I don't know, maybe stop and THINK about what's going on before commenting on it!", Peeta yells, while giving Effie a look that says 'I want to kill you right now so shut up'. He kneels down next to me and whispers "I'm going to take you to the infirmary now, OK?". I give a slight nod, still sobbing and too afraid to speak. Peeta gently lifts me into his arms and carries me through several train compartments but before we can reach our destination, who stops us, only Haymitch himself, not only hungover but newly drunk for the day.

"What's going on?", he asks groggily.

"None of your business", Peeta says while trying to evade Haymitch.

"I'm your mentor, everything's my business!", he starts yelling some stupid rant I'm too distracted to listen to.

"Fine! She has blood poisoning! Happy?", Peeta screeches. He extends my arm to show Haymitch.

"OW!", I yelp helplessly.

"Well, I'm not particularly thrilled especially because, SHE CAN'T FIGHT LIKE THIS! WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WHOLE PROTECTING HER THING, HUH?", I can tell Haymitch is really getting on Peeta's nerves, so I whisper that we should really get to the infirmary. He agrees, but not before punching Haymitch in the face and watching him crumple to the floor. After this he sprints through the rest of the train until we finally get there. Peeta lays me down on the metal examination table. It's as cold as ice, I start trembling again, not only from the table but from being so incredibly frightened. More so than I have ever been in my entire life. Being able to breathe becomes progressively more difficult. I can't tell if it's from fear or from the poison now making its way all through my shaking body. I start completely hyperventilating, when Peeta's hand encases mine and doesn't let go.

"Don't be afraid to squeeze my hand as hard as can whenever you're scared or worried.", I instantly crush his hand with all my might. "Try not to break it", he says with a slight chuckle. This makes a half smile slowly creep on my lips. I notice now that Peeta is the older brother I always wanted but never had and never will have. I mean I love Katniss to pieces of course, but it's just not the same and it never could be. My breathing starts to slow down when finally the doctor arrives. Peeta explains the situation and with every word he utters the doctor's face becomes grimmer and more concerned. he starts to examine my arm, just his touch causes me to tense up and clasp Peeta's hand once again. Tears swell in the corners of my eyes, threatening to fall. The doctor confirms my fear, it is in fact blood poisoning and apparently a very serious case. He also tells us that he doesn't even have close to the correct medicine my case needs, I will have to wait till we arrive in the Capitol. This starts the tears rolling down the side of my face, forming tiny puddles on the slick metal surface below me.

"Shh, shh. It's alright Prim, you'll be fine.", Peeta whispers while slowly smoothing my blond hair back. The doctor gives me a shot of something, with no warning. So when it's injected I embrace Peeta's hand so hard I see him wince in pain, only to put on a reassuring smile right after to cover up. I sniffle a few times, trying to gain composure before even attempting to leave the room. Peeta keeps his hand locked with mine as we depart to the dining car after realizing I haven't eaten anything all day and I'm absolutely famished. I almost faint at the sight and smell of so much delicious, rich food, I have no clue where to begin. I grab as much food as can fit on my plate and take a seat next to Peeta. I almost forget about my arm until I reach for my drink and it completely spazzes out on me. I quickly recoil and it suddenly stops. I have to resort to using my left hand only, which is extremely difficult for a righty. I make it through breakfast and stroll down to my room to wash up. I find a now carefully cleaned mockingjay pin sitting on me nightstand. The fact that all of District Twelve has been removed from it rubs me the wrong way. I flip out and kick my nightstand, then I grab the lamp that was previously laying on it and throw it against the wall with my right arm, not even realizing the pain. The lamp shatters into many small pieces scattering across the floor. I hear Peeta's footsteps sprinting down the hall, I don't even care anymore. I collapse on my bed and fall right asleep with tears in my eyes as Peeta enters the room.

**I really hope you guys liked it. I am hoping to regularly update but with so much school work I make no promises. Please review and give me as much feedback as you can as a young person knowing things I did well and not so well is really helpful. Thank you so much for ready and dealing with me. Please review! Thanks! =)**


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